hi this happened to me this week while boarding train from Pyle to Cardiff.Pyle has no ticket facilities when i got to Cardiff i asked for a ticket from Bridgend- mitigating circumstances i live in Bridgend but stayed down my partners which is in Pyle also being 5 months pregnant first thing in the morning, i have contacted them but they say until the report comes in they wont do anything, i am absolutely petrified with a court case and high fine! i am going on maternity soon and work in the health care profession so an Enchanced DBS is done every year. i admit i said the wrong station but i didn't just say Bridgend out of no where it is my local station any advise would be greatly received Thanks
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I wrongly attempted to pay for a shorter fare on ATW
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Just wait till the letter comes through to see what it says first.
Id make a new thread about it too but short faring as outlined in the above thread you posted in can have a decent outcome of a price to be paid to the toc outside of going to court.
Do not stress about your situation please, it wont go away so stressing wont help you - especially being pregnant.
Id make a new thread about it too but short faring as outlined in the above thread you posted in can have a decent outcome of a price to be paid to the toc outside of going to court.
Do not stress about your situation please, it wont go away so stressing wont help you - especially being pregnant.
If this is a first offence then it's possible that ATW will dispose of it by way of an out of court settlement. While each case is different, we have seen instances where this has been £80 to £150 plus the fare evaded - so somewhere between £87.20 and £157.20. If they do go down this route, I'd expect a figure closer to the lower rather than the higher end of the range.
As they said on the phone/email, there is little to do at this point but wait to see what they intend to do.
Hi Sam123.
Upon receiving my initial letter from TIL detailing that i had been reported, i sent a signed letter with my version of events. I was completely in the wrong so apologized in my letter and offered to pay any administration costs the company had taken on. Around 3 weeks later i received another letter from TIL detailing that they see no reason but to prosecute me and take me to court. Following another letter I immediately sent another letter to TIL detailing a more in dept apology, accepting responsibility as well as showing remorse. I sent the same letter to Arriva Trains Wales and was issued a £75 out of court settlement within a few weeks which I took with both hands and paid the next day!
If you need any advise, let me know.
Gareth Marston
Established Member
So yet another short fare to Cardiff thread?
sam123 - i think it will boil down to an offer especially if you are pregnant (not that I'm saying your lying but it will be checked out) - they are probably not going to make an example of a pregnant women.
Short faring is a problem in South Wales seemingly more than anywhere else- yet local rail fares are incredibly cheap in South Wales compared to many parts of the UK. The "its a genuine mistake" excuse really doesn't wash as that's what everybody says given that there isn't an invisible force field around Cardiff that forces people without tickets to say they got out on at a station closer to Cardiff than they did we can only conclude that local "perceived wisdom" that its a jolly wheeze and you can save money by doing it is wrong. If you have a family member/friend/colleague whose told you that you can get away with it I'd have words!
sam123 - i think it will boil down to an offer especially if you are pregnant (not that I'm saying your lying but it will be checked out) - they are probably not going to make an example of a pregnant women.
Short faring is a problem in South Wales seemingly more than anywhere else- yet local rail fares are incredibly cheap in South Wales compared to many parts of the UK. The "its a genuine mistake" excuse really doesn't wash as that's what everybody says given that there isn't an invisible force field around Cardiff that forces people without tickets to say they got out on at a station closer to Cardiff than they did we can only conclude that local "perceived wisdom" that its a jolly wheeze and you can save money by doing it is wrong. If you have a family member/friend/colleague whose told you that you can get away with it I'd have words!
I would be careful here. It was a genuine mistake in that you tried to chance it. You`ve already admitted you lied about the station you got on so clearly deliberate. Yes we`re all human but this is where you need to be honest and admit what happened. The outcome will clearly be better for you, pregnant or not.
If you can message me what you wrote on both occasions I be very grateful x
No like I didn’t try and get a cheaper fair deliberately at all! I’m admitinh yes I did originally say Bridgend but had mitigating circumstances as that is where I live and being pregnant you do tend to mix things up I’m looking for advise not for someone who was not there to try and say it was deliberate!!
I have proof I am 5 months pregnant of course that is not something I’d lie about lol when you are pregnant you do have moments of confusion. Bridgend is one stop after pyle with 2 more before my destination to Cardiff so if I was going to save money deliberately I’d prob chose a a closer station. Maybe you should have more faith in the human race that people can make genuine mistakes and it is a very easy one to make
I’m trying not to stress but from what I have read it is pretty hard I’m a natural worrier lol thank you x
telstarbox
Established Member
Please just wait for the letter then come back and we can advise from there.
Gareth Marston
Established Member
What you have to bear in mind is that whilst to you this is a one off incident that's causing yourself problems and stress you don't want, hundreds have been caught doing it into Cardiff and all claim mitigating circumstances. Its an endemic problem giving the scale of it its not the odd individual having a brain fade for whatever reason there does seem to be a wide perception across South Wales that its possible and acceptable to short fare and as you found out it isn't. As I said there is no invisible force field around Cardiff that makes ticket less travelers forget where they got on if you read this forum we've had several similar stories on here this year alone and its probably the tip of the iceberg.You've probably googled and found the this forum quite easily.
FYI- ATW have had a crackdown on ticketless/fraudulent travel since end of July this year so whilst to you it seems there singling you out and yes you are 5 months pregnant you have to remember its all the other people from Pyle and lots of other S Wales Towns and Villages that have done it in the past have made the TOC have no choice but to clamp down on it.
I completely understand why it is in place and get the fact that they have probably heard a lot of excuses but people can make genuine mistakes and the reason it is stressing me so much is the fact that it was. all I’m looking for from this site is similar experiences and the outcomes that happened and any help or guidance is what I have come here for. Not for anyone to question if I did or did not do it knowingly I know what happened and that is all that matters I didn’t realise how often these things happen until reading this site but again I’m just after help on my situation
Gareth Marston
Established Member
My advice is make it easy for TIL to clear the case up. That's admit you were at fault promise not to do it again, offer to make an out of court settlement. That's the approach Jamo04 took which worked in that he ended up paying £75.00 but no further action was taken.
Trying to get off by contesting it and listing mitigating circumstances will be time consuming stressful and could well be futile and cost more £.
Trying to get off by contesting it and listing mitigating circumstances will be time consuming stressful and could well be futile and cost more £.
Ok thank you for the advise, I have asked jamo04 for further advise thanks
Fawkes Cat
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Let me suggest a slightly different approach.
You are pregnant. You probably want your life to be as stress-free as possible right now.
If that is the most important thing to you, then what you want is the quickest way to bring this matter to an end. From reading the posts on this site, you will see that in general, the quickest way is to accept responsibility, and pay what the railway asks you for - which will be your fare, plus the costs they've incurred. As someone said higher in this thread, that will total somewhere between £80 and £150.
If I have understood things correctly, the railway have your contract details. Make sure you respond to every time they contact you, and make sure that your response is
- short (whoever reads it will be busy and will prefer that you get straight to the point)
- courteous (they are human too - and you want something from them so it's in your interest to be nice to them)
- clear that you know what you did was wrong, and you won't do it again
- willing to cover their costs.
It is probably worth mentioning that you are pregnant, but don't expect that to be a trump card that will guarantee you the railway's sympathy: everyone thinks that their case is special, but for case handlers who spend all day looking at cases, they will see the similarities (that every letter they see is from someone who was caught short faring) more strongly than the differences (pregnant/unwell/bereaved/tired etc., etc.).
Only you can know if you did this by mistake or on purpose: the railway will make a deduction as to why you did it on the evidence they have. You may find it least stressful to do what you can to settle quickly and out of court, even if you don't think that is entirely fair.
You are pregnant. You probably want your life to be as stress-free as possible right now.
If that is the most important thing to you, then what you want is the quickest way to bring this matter to an end. From reading the posts on this site, you will see that in general, the quickest way is to accept responsibility, and pay what the railway asks you for - which will be your fare, plus the costs they've incurred. As someone said higher in this thread, that will total somewhere between £80 and £150.
If I have understood things correctly, the railway have your contract details. Make sure you respond to every time they contact you, and make sure that your response is
- short (whoever reads it will be busy and will prefer that you get straight to the point)
- courteous (they are human too - and you want something from them so it's in your interest to be nice to them)
- clear that you know what you did was wrong, and you won't do it again
- willing to cover their costs.
It is probably worth mentioning that you are pregnant, but don't expect that to be a trump card that will guarantee you the railway's sympathy: everyone thinks that their case is special, but for case handlers who spend all day looking at cases, they will see the similarities (that every letter they see is from someone who was caught short faring) more strongly than the differences (pregnant/unwell/bereaved/tired etc., etc.).
Only you can know if you did this by mistake or on purpose: the railway will make a deduction as to why you did it on the evidence they have. You may find it least stressful to do what you can to settle quickly and out of court, even if you don't think that is entirely fair.
Being honest and getting to the point helped me. It was a dishonest way to save a few quid which cost me much more than that! It all sorted and lesson learnt.
Sam123 - Follow me on twitter @dan_jarm and ill send the letter i sent to ATW and TIL.
I don’t have Twitter, I have Facebook? Or just my email address thank you x
Hi Sam - send me an email - dan_jarm@hotmail.com
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